OUR BACKWARDS COUSINS!!!!!!!!

[youngfisho]

hello all, just a little thing i noticed when at Brighton-England yesterday. Whilst walking out along the breakwall there were a dozen or more anglers fishing. All or most of these anglers had little carry alls like golf buggies with the assortment of sabiki jigs all at the ready. most were fishing with gear that looked like you could haul a marlin in with with similar strength line and all bar two or three rods I saw were overheads with standard grip sizes. For the most the rods were around the 10 foot mark with butts about two feet long and very little in the way of grip. some were fishing with the jigs on the bottom using heavy leads (mostly tear drop sinkers) or using a smaller lead on the bottom suspended by a float. one or two guys were fishing fresh or frozen baits. there didnt seem to be much in the way of action. what i did notice was that nearly 90 percent of the threadline or eggbeater style reels were left hand wind.


now im pretty sure that when the convicts came out there were a fair mix of left and right handed people so its not to do with how many people are south paw or not. my thoughts are that this style has carried over from the fly fishing days and that casting with your right hand or over your right shoulder you then would use your left hand to either strip back the fly or retrieve the line.


my other theory is that because of the different species of fish in australia, ie mackrel, snapper, shark, etc which are hard fighting fish that often need a quick retrieve to entice a strike (ie high speed spinning) or need muscle to bring them up. It was thought that left hand wind was to slow and cumbersome and that it is just as easy switching hands to wind and also as some people may or may not know but most (i say most) right handed people are physically stronger with their left. (please let me explain)


for most right handed people their right hand has been given the task of performing fine motor skills since birth, the left hand whilst not recieving the same coodination or skill tasking throughout this time has been used to stabilize and provide the power whilst the right hand controlled the object, person etc.

how many right handed people find it really difficult to wind really quickly with their left..........(lets assume a fair few) this is due to the lack of coodination and fine motor skills required to perform the task. granted that once you have practiced and practiced winding the skill becomes easier and easier.

anyways if someone could shead some light on this phenomenon then im all ears

andrew

[manchild]

Northern hemisphere i guess ;D just like with the water in the toilet ,they brain works backwards :P
Cheers
George
sorry not a really bright input but ay ,gotta beat time before the game ,im so nervous.

[wayneoro]

all americans wind with there left hand except the kack handers why use your most versatile hand for a no brainer like winding your right hand is far better served controling your rod the americans are always technically correct we just need to get used to fishing the right way slowly i've seen a big increase in aussi fishers change over

[szopen]

hello all, just a little thing i noticed when at Brighton-England yesterday. Whilst walking out along the breakwall there were a dozen or more anglers fishing. #All or most of these anglers had little carry alls like golf buggies with the assortment of sabiki jigs all at the ready. #most were fishing with gear that looked like you could haul a marlin in with with similar strength line and all bar two or three rods I saw were overheads with standard grip sizes. #For the most the rods were around the 10 foot mark with butts about two feet long and very little in the way of grip. #some were fishing with the jigs on the bottom using heavy leads (mostly tear drop sinkers) or using a smaller lead on the bottom suspended by a float. #one or two guys were fishing fresh or frozen baits. #there didnt seem to be much in the way of action. #what i did notice was that nearly 90 percent of the threadline or eggbeater style reels were left hand wind.


now im pretty sure that when the convicts came out there were a fair mix of left and right handed people so its not to do with how many people are south paw or not. #my thoughts are that this style has carried over from the fly fishing days and that casting with your right hand or over your right shoulder you then would use your left hand to either strip back the fly or retrieve the line.


my other theory is that because of the different species of fish in australia, #ie mackrel, snapper, shark, etc which are hard fighting fish that often need a quick retrieve to entice a strike (ie high speed spinning) or need muscle to bring them up. #It was thought that left hand wind was to slow and cumbersome and that it is just as easy switching hands to wind and also as some people may or may not know but most (i say most) right handed people are physically stronger with their left. (please let me explain)


for most right handed people their right hand has been given the task of performing fine motor skills since birth, the left hand whilst not recieving the same coodination or skill tasking throughout this time has been used to stabilize and provide the power whilst the right hand controlled the object, person etc.

how many right handed people find it really difficult to wind really quickly with their left..........(lets assume a fair few) this is due to the lack of coodination and fine motor skills required to perform the task. #granted that once you have practiced and practiced winding the skill becomes easier and easier.

anyways if someone could shead some light on this phenomenon then im all ears

andrew


Always look around and listen young padawan.

Vast majority of the anglers world wide use their right hand to control the rod and left hand to wind the reel.

Surely all of them must be wrong as in Oz it is done different way -? :-? :-?

If I tell you that I have been fishing since I was 10 and the first time I have seen a right hand wind reel was at 29 or so that must sound strange.

With the exception of big game reels where you and your rod are strapped to the seat so only right hand (stronger one) is actually used to fight the fish I find it hard to see any reasons for right hand wind.

[Graham_N_Roberts]

:-[ :-[ Crikey ... I use my left hand to control and cast rod, and right hand to wind. :-/ I guess that makes me a kacky.

The egg beaters today do infact allow for both, but in the 60's all reels in our household were right hand wind. Diawa egg beaters, Alvey (I think) centre pin, closed face overhead. In fact, most overheads today are right hand crank.

Overhead baitcaster are for Kackies only? ;D

I say good for interchangeable reels, but there is absolutely no correct or incorrect hand with which to use a rod and reel. It depends on the user.

Cheers.

[frankj]

SZOPEN is spot on, most reels in this world are left hand wind.

On a silmilar note, most Victorians can't understand why the rest of the world doesn't play AFL.

Look over the fence, keep an open mind, you never know what you will learn. ;)

[scorpion_500]

there is absolutely no correct or incorrect hand with which to use a rod and reel. It depends on the user.

Have to say I agree with this... after all spent nearly 40 years writing with my left hand, but I have *never* been able to cast left-handed. It always felt "natural" to me: cast with the right, wind with the left. Beats juggling the rod from hand to hand to cast & retrieve. I think the only exception is my surf outfit (the Alvey sidecast I have is RH wind). But then again, I've always played bat/racquet sports right-handed. Except pool / snooker - can use the que in either hand (which really ticked off some people I've played with - it comes in *real* handy for otherwise awkward shots... not that I'm much good at it in the first place).

[aussiefool]

I was brough up using my right hand to cast and wind. tried to swap over a while back and it just felt SO wrong so I stick to what I like

[PinHead]

hell..I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous

[bidkev]

Dunno what you've observed there mate but I can tell you for sure that the vast majority of UK (sea) anglers that I've observed over 40 yrs fishing there,(self included), wind with their right hand.

The UK was a land of overheads, last time I was there and left hand wind overheads are practically unobtainable. There was a small movement to large egg-beaters and a minority of folk preferred to use these left handed. Switching from the traditional overheads which were dominated by Abu 7000 to 9000 series because of their long range casting ability also meant that you had to switch rod styles and many were averse to this.

With regards to the methods you observed. They are probably hoping for a run of mackerel. These are just about the only fish that would go for that kind of method and even bare hooks will catch 'em when they're in a frenzy. The heavy gear and weights is to cope with tide run. No matter where you fish in the UK you have a tide run of around 10 metres in 6 hrs on a king, and as most fishing is bottom bashing, you have to use heavy weight (and hence gear) to keep your bait down.

kev

[Owen]

Tried using my left hand once..... kept slipping off the end :( :( :-X

cheers,
Owen

[wrip109]

The English fishermen are anglers. In Oz most fishermen catch a fish and pull it in with line that could be mistaken for rope. Now an angler likes to play the fish on very light gear, so right handed people will, of course, hold their rod in their right hand. This is done for fine control over the rod and hence the fish.

For most people if their best hand is holding the rod then it only leaves one hand for winding - er? let me think - that's the left hand.

Phil ;)
PS see if you can buy half pound line in Brisbane which I saw used for years in England

[shayned]

Thanks Phil I think I've got it now, if you like chasing tiny perch and carp then you're an angler. But if you want to chase something uncouth like a Mangrove Jack than you're just a fisherman. Yep, definately got a handle on it now, cheers me old china. ;) ;)

[bidkev]

The English fishermen are anglers. In Oz most fishermen catch a fish and pull it in with line that could be mistaken for rope. Now an angler likes to play the fish on very light gear, so right handed people will, of course, hold their rod in their right hand. This is done for fine control over the rod and hence the fish.

For most people if their best hand is holding the rod then it only leaves one hand for winding - er? let me think - that's the left hand.

Phil ;)
PS see if you can buy half pound line in Brisbane which I saw used for years in England

Phil, you're talking here about coarse fishing, whereas the thread was relating to sea angling. I've rarely seen any line under 15lb bs used in salt water angling in the UK.

kev

[banshee]

If the majority of the worlds reels are left crank why do nearly all threadlines come assembled in right configuration with the option to change if you want and why do overheads come in right configuration with only a limmited number of models available in both? As has been said there is no right or wrong waysimply what suits you.

[youngfisho]

kingtin,

i only observed about 5 or 6 rods out of the 30 or so rods that were there that were overhead reels. there were about 5 that were R hand wind and the rest were left handed. 90 percent maybe a streeeetch but i didnt really count all of the rods, but nearly all that i saw were left hand egg beaters.

as i said earlier i find winding far easier with my right (i have better fine motor control in my right) (no cheeky comments now) but i suppose for some their left hand is more coordinated or they find holding the rod with their right hand easier.

i write with my right hand, play pool with my left or right hand down on the table, shoot with the stock of the gun in my left shoulder, bat R handed, bowl right handed. So im all mixed up.


andrew

[bidkev]

kingtin,

i only observed about 5 or 6 rods out of the 30 or so rods that were there that were overhead reels. there were about 5 that were R hand wind and the rest were left handed. 90 percent maybe a streeeetch but i didnt really count all of the rods, but nearly all that i saw were left hand egg beaters.

as i said earlier i find winding far easier with my right (i have better fine motor control in my right) (no cheeky comments now) but i suppose for some their left hand is more coordinated or they find holding the rod with their right hand easier.

i write with my right hand, play pool with my left or right hand down on the table, shoot with the stock of the gun in my left shoulder, bat R handed, bowl right handed. So im all mixed up.


andrew\

Andrew, Brighton is a holiday resort with many visitors to the seaside, and resident retirees. What you may have been seeing is a bunch of "weekend amateurs" who have little idea as to how to fish correctly, and indeed, some of the gear may have been hired from local tackle shops and used incorrectly. I hail originally from Blackpool which is a similar resort and the tackle stores on the piers often hired out totally inappropriate tackle, not by way of ripping off the punters, but simply because holidaymakers who just wanted to have a "bash" would not be able to use the right gear correctly, and indeed, the gear needed to be able to withstand some "hammer' from the punters. Egg beaters are more appropriate for the inexperienced as they don't suffer from bird's nests.

I am surprised that you mentioned sabiki rigs, as prior to coming to Oz (11yrs ago), I''d never seen a sabiki rig before and I've fished all over the uk. If it was mackerel they were after (and this is the season for them), then they would have been using a 6 hook feather rig, perhaps this is what you mean?

OTOH, I could be entirely wrong and things may have changed a great deal since I was there.

kev

[el_carpo]

My spinning reel has the handle on the left and my baitcaster has it on the right. I'm right handed. That's the way they are set up over here (US) too. I don't know why. Also, when I fish with a fly rod, I hold the rod in my right hand and peel the line with my left.

One trip, I took both my spinning gear and my baitcaster reel and kept switching between the two. It freaked me out! ;D It was really strange, but for some reason , my coordination was thrown way out of whack! I kept trying to wind the handle on the wrong side of the reel! Where's the handle?! D'oh! ;D When I only use a spinning rod or only use a bait rod, I'm OK but for whatever reason, trying to use both really did a number on my coordination.

I use spinning gear mostly so I'm much more accustomed to reeling with my left hand. I think our brain and muscles just get used to working and coordinating in a certain way.

I tried playing a left handed guitar once and I was completely hopeless. I couldn't do it.

It's pretty strange that we developed right and left handedness to begin with. I would have thought evolution would have made us all ambidexterous? :-?

[rough_shag]

Most people in that Brighton area seem to be more into collecting all the various gear that goes with fishing as a hobby rather than actually catching fish.I spent a year or two there and if your brave enough to weather the north atlantic nightmare gales and lucky enough to find a patch of clear water between the sewerage slicks, then you may be able to catch one or two of the tiny little dodgy lookin striped 'bait fish' that feed on the sewerage.The big 'game fish' everyone used to rave about over there was the conga eel, which actually felt like you had something on the line when they struck which was almost never. Jace.

[Mozza]

I'm so confused now, I don't know if I'm right or left handed...

As I'm typing, I do know that my left index finger hits the keys mostly on the left hand side of the keyboard and my right index finger the rest PLUS fixes all the mistakes my left index finger does. Better make sure my right finger gets paid more or I, the manager will be up for discrimination.

I'll stick to what feels good - tried to go goofy on my fly rod - gave it up as a bad job. 'Bin fishin' Right cast and Right wind since was 5.

Mozza

[wrip109]

Hi Shayned

My local river in England(The Mersey) was so poluted, in my day, that you could almost walk across it. The fish used to wear gas masks. Yep, I used to fish all day, even in the snow, for a tiny perch or two. Maybe that's why I never catch anything in salt water.

Phil
An angler ::)

[Cheech]

I gave left hand wind a go a while back. Like most though, it was strange because it was different.

After thinking about it since, I realised that apart from winding in, once I actually have the fish at the boat, I prefer to have my right hand free to do the netting, lifting of fish etc.

The statement that the wind hand should be the non main hand because it does nothing apart from winding, is just not accurate.

Where I do see right wind as a restriction is the switching sides you generally have to do when casting. After casting, it all then makes sense. Though, as most of my fishing is from a boat, even the casting argument does not come into it because you mostly side cast left or right depending on the side of the boat you are one, not which hand you hold the rod.

Cheech

[DICER]

I live in Leiden, The Netherlands but come from Brisbane. I had to convert to left hand wind. Wonky at first but much much better now. Northern hemisphere is basically left hand wind - a coreollis effect perhaps?

Sometime ago I actually put in a poll about this subject. Perhaps someone can dig it up and refresh us.

[DICER]

BTW - they really have some weird tackle here in Holland.

[bidkev]

Hi Shayned

My local river in England(The Mersey) was so poluted, in my day, that you could almost walk across it. The fish used to wear gas masks. Yep, I used to fish all day, even in the snow, for a tiny perch or two. Maybe that's why I never catch anything in salt water.

Phil
An angler ::)



Phil, I used to catch tropical fish in the warm water outside Pilkington's Glassworks.

kev

[bidkev]

BTW - they really have some weird tackle here in Holland.

You've actually looked? :o ;D ;);D

krv

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

there's no right or wrong here but it is an interesting thread that makes you think a bit about something you take for granted..



The English fishermen are anglers. In Oz most fishermen catch a fish and pull it in with line that could be mistaken for rope. Now an angler likes to play the fish on very light gear, so right handed people will, of course, hold their rod in their right hand. This is done for fine control over the rod and hence the fish.

PS see if you can buy half pound line in Brisbane which I saw used for years in England


isn't it hypocritical of an "angler" in their quest for the best, most interesting fight, to use the lightest line possible but then their strongest, best co-ordinated arm ::) ;)




After thinking about it since, I realised that apart from winding in, once I actually have the fish at the boat, I prefer to have my right hand free to do the netting, lifting of fish etc.

....
Cheech

i agree with cheech,
I do a bit of fishing alone (the smell I think) - the throttle is on the right hand side of the console and I like to gaff using my stongest arm, the right.

I have though in the past when dabbling in the dark magic of plastics for lizards, changed the handle sides to the left because the constant casting kills my left wrist which has had a bone thingo removed. This is the reason I hate using big Penn overheads - its an unnatural position my left wrist won't tolerate & you just don't see left-hand wind Penns readily available in Oz.

chris

[wrip109]

Hi Kev

I used to work in Pilkington's glassworks in St Helens - Didn't see any fish though

Phil

[bidkev]

Hi Kev

I used to work in Pilkington's glassworks in St Helens - Didn't see any fish though

Phil


Pilkies used to used to leak warm water into the canal in the 60's until they were told to clean up their act. Folk used to dump their oscars and red devils in there when they got too big for the tanks ;D

[BigE]

;D ;D ;D 99 - 100 Change Hands ......lol

[Sea-Dog]

SZOPEN is spot on, most reels in this world are left hand wind.

On a silmilar note, most Victorians can't understand why the rest of the world doesn't play AFL. #

Look over the fence, keep an open mind, you never know what you will learn. ;)

Should read: most Victorians, Tasmanians, South Australians, West Australians, and Territorians. #::)

[roz]

The English fishermen are anglers. In Oz most fishermen catch a fish and pull it in with line that could be mistaken for rope.


wrip109,

Go and have a look at the Australian National Sportsfishing Association records for both salt and freshwater.

Check out the line to weight ratios.

[wrip109]

But do the records say which hand was used to hold the rod?

On a serious note, do records still count now that private ponds have hand reared fish to huge sizes?

Which is my best fish? The 55cm bass from a stocked impoundment (Somerset) or the 35 cm bass I caught in the wild, out West?

I caught a huge trout in the Isle of Man in a private pond, but I have never caught one in the wild. Can I boast about the size of the trout I caught?

Phil
Anyway it is so long since I have fished at all that I forget what it is like - Bring on the rain!